Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images & AP Photo/Michel Euler

Journalist Matt Taibbi posted screenshots of unhinged messages he received from billionaire Twitter owner Elon Musk.

Days after Taibbi accused Musk of restricting his account, the former Musk ally posted the screenshots from a conversation the two had had nearly a year prior.

“Since @elonmusk published parts of these conversations, I might as well include others,” declared Taibbi on Thursday. “I was under a ‘blanket search ban’ at one point and a lot of my 1.9 million followers still don’t see my content.”

In the messages, dated April 2023, Taibbi could be seen asking Musk whether he was “being shadowbanned” following Musk’s crackdown on Substack, which Taibbi writes for.

“We went on lockdown after discovering that Substack had stolen a massive amount of our data to prepopulate their Twitter rip-off,” replied Musk. “Looks like there is still a blanket search ban. Should be fixed by tomorrow.”

He added, “Going forward, tweets with Substack will not appear in For You unless it is paid advertising, just like FB/Insta/etc.”

Taibbi questioned, “Elon, I’ve repeatedly declined to criticize you and have nothing to do with your beef with Substack. Is there a reason why I’m being put in the middle of things? This really seems crazy.”

“You are dead to me,” replied Musk. “Please get off Twitter and just stay on Substack.”

Prior to their falling out, Taibbi was seen as a close ally of Musk and was described by House Delegate Stacey Plaskett as one of “Elon Musk’s public scribes” during a hearing in March 2023.

Their relationship deteriorated just weeks later after Substack, a website Taibbi writes for, announced the launch of a Twitter rival.

Musk retaliated by blocking all links to Substack, which prompted Taibbi to announce his departure from Musk’s platform.

Taibbi criticized Musk in several other Twitter posts on Thursday, calling the social network “worse than ever.”

“Supposed free speech champion @ElonMusk has decided to suppress this account forever, instead of just talking to me,” protested Taibbi. “@ElonMusk is uncomfortable around people who aren’t afraid of him, and wants to prove he can hurt my business instead of just talking to me, even if it means suppressing access to news he thinks is important.”

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